Season 6 really improved Spike's character!

[FlareGun45 2,221]

I know alot of people didn't like season 6, but I really liked the season! For the most part, it really improved Spike's character; something I've been hoping for since season 3! It wasn't the only thing I liked about the season, because I did like to see Trixie returning, Chrysalis returning, Discord saving Equestria, a griffon wanting to have a cutie mark and became the 7th crusader (Babs was 4th, and her friends were 5 and 6), and among other things. But Spike was pretty much the number one reason season 6 is currently my 2nd favorite season, with season 4 being first (that chest arc and Weird Al were the main reasons)!

 

 

Back on topic, Spike did okay in the past seasons, but the writers didn't seem to know exactly what to do with him other than to either be Twilight's assistant, crushing on Rarity, makes a mess of things, or is the Meg Griffin of the group. Season 6 pretty much changed that! You can see how much he grew up now and became Spike the Brave and Glorious how he should be!

 

First he's been a real pal to Starlight and helps her out with her friendship lessons! But to make that better: Twilight doesn't ask him to, he volunteers! That's why I liked the premiere so much! Flurry Heart was... okay, but the best parts of the episodes were with Starlight, Spike, and Sunburst!

 

Then he finally reunited with the dragons once more, and on more friendlier terms this time! He's been incredibly selfless, and this is the first episode he lead where he didn't mess things up, and actually taught someone of his own kind a friendship lesson! He won the gauntlet through teamwork, and passed on the title to someone he thought was more suited! Even though it was expected, it was still pretty epic! He befriended the current Dragon Lord Ember, and started the alliance between dragons and ponies! This episode pretty much fixed Dragon Quest!

 

He didn't just befriend a dragon though! He befriended a changeling too, Thorax! He helped him get accepted among ponies, and had his own song finally! Not everyone liked it, and it was a little cheesy, but I sure loved it, and I think he's gonna get more songs in the future! He did mess up a little in this episode, but unlike some of his other episodes, this mess up was logical and relateable. Plus, if this episode didn't happen, the alliance between ponies and changelings wouldn't have happened, and the main cast and princesses would've been doomed! So Spike pretty much saved Equestria, as well as started ANOTHER alliance for Equestria, but of course with the help of Starlight! Also to add, Spike did what no other character did before: teach Cadance a friendship lesson! Now if only Celestia would learn one in the series!

 

Now Spike didn't do anything heroic in Dungeons and Discords, but this episode proves he has a life outside of the Mane Six! He hangs out with Big Mac to play nerdy games with, and they even invited Discord to play! If you think about it, Twilight was the last pony to trust Discord, and even Spike gave him a chance to hang out before even Twilight did! This episode was also a great chance for three characters who barely interact in the show to have an episode for them to share! The three play off each other so well!

 

Because of this season, I am confident that season 7 is going to be just as good, if not better for our number one dragon! He has so much potential, and the writers now see it! Yes, he's still a comic-relief character for episodes he doesn't star in, but at least it's done the right way! Episodes like Hearth's Warming Tale and PPOV, he's pretty much the voice of the audience; which is how it should be! Not the punching bag, or the Meg Griffin in the group.

 

Good luck, DHX Here's to some more awesome Spike content and episodes in season 7!

Edited December 22, 2016 by MegaSean45

[M'gann M'orzz 745]

Season six basically saved Spike and Fluttershy as characters for me personally, finally gave them direction they'd been lacking for so long. 

I think you have the group of people who are still too hung up on Starlight existing at all (despite her being a better character than Shimmer in almost every way) and Dash having her second worst season and hold it against everything else in the season, it's unfortunate really. 

Edited December 22, 2016 by M'gann M'orzz

[FlareGun45 2,221]

Season six basically saved Spike and Fluttershy as characters for me personally, finally gave them direction they'd been lacking for so long. 

 

I think you have the group of people who are still too hung up on Starlight existing at all (despite her being a better character than Shimmer in almost every way) and Dash having her second worst season and hold it against everything else in the season, it's unfortunate really. 

 

Actually, unlike most people, I was okay with Newbie Dash! The episodes I didn't like Rainbow was Cart Before the Ponies and 28 Pranks Later; also Starlight has become my second favorite character in the show! I dunno what you mean by "hung up", but I don't hate her, and I'm not obsessed over her either. I just find her relatable and such!

 

But you're right! This season was also really good for Fluttershy as well; and Pinkie!

Edited December 22, 2016 by MegaSean45

[Thrond 3,262]

Season six basically saved Spike and Fluttershy as characters for me personally, finally gave them direction they'd been lacking for so long. 

Fluttershy was a revelation this season, but to be honest I've always liked Spike. Thought his episodes were pretty consistently introspective, and even those episodes where I don't find him as interesting, there's stuff around the margins I tend to enjoy. Not sure he had any more "direction" here than in previous seasons; largely he seems to have just caught up to the same plateau the rest of the mane six were on last season. Gotta love "The Times They Are a Changeling," though. 

 

Actually, unlike most people, I was okay with Newbie Dash! The episodes I didn't like Rainbow was Cart Before the Ponies and 28 Pranks Later; also Starlight has become my second favorite character in the show! I dunno what you mean by "hung up", but I don't hate her, and I'm not obsessed over her either. I just find her relatable and such!

 

But you're right! This season was also really good for Fluttershy as well; and Pinkie!

"28 Pranks Later" was super irritating, but the episode which really got under my skin re: Dash was actually "Applejack's 'Day' Off. I can understand that she's still a bit of a prankster, even if it doesn't make sense that she'd be so insensitive at this point, but I have no idea why she'd feel the need to protect her image so much that she'd deny that she's going to the spa. Rarity and Applejack teasing her for it doesn't help, but that is the episode where I thought her characterization was indefensible, which makes it confusing to me that people rarely bring it up when talking about Rainbow being weak this season. 

 

'Course, I actually didn't think Rainbow was that bad this season, although a big part of that might just be because I appreciate "Newbie Dash" so much. I'm not sure she should be so insensitive and egotistical at this point, but to be perfectly honest, I sorta just admired that she was course again, and wasn't constantly reacting to things or even acting like a small child like she did in season 5 and late season 4. I wish the writers would stop doing things like "28 Pranks Later" and "Applejack's 'Day' Off," but if anything I feel like "Newbie Dash," "Flutter Brutter," "Top Bolt," and hell, even "Buckball Season" leave her with some of the best characterization she's had in a while; again, I hope that the writers take fewer cheap shots at her next season. 

[Ganondorf8 11,241]

Many Spike episodes focused on him trying to fix a mistake that he made and going through a series of misadventures that ultimately didn't do him any favours in the eyes of the fandom. His season six episodes are a complete reversal in that the problems were not created by his actions, and he was able to solve them through means that would make Twilight proud of the accomplishments. While he still makes for an excellent supporting character who acts like a straight man to the Mane Six, his episodes in season six were the best ones he's had yet.

 

Hopefully, season seven will continue this trend and not regress back to what it used to be.

[Megas 27,490]

Spike and Fluttershy were the only ones who actually benefited from this season, but that's really about it, otherwise you got the worst season for about half the main cast and a hohum season for Rarity. And that's not even mentioning the glimmering elephant in the room

[Prospekt 11,014]

I think the writers finally found a way to make Spike's character shine. For once he's not a bumbling fool whose every episode consists of him screwing up badly or feeling bad for himself... lookin' at you, Power Ponies, Princess Spike, and Equestria Games.

 

Instead, the Spike episodes in Season 6 showed Spike in a much more positive light because they highlighted his strengths for once, rather than his weaknesses that we'd seen over and over in previous seasons. Yes, Spike can get greedy. Yes, Spike spends way too much time and energy trying to woo Rarity. Yes, Spike doesn't always think things through before pursuing them. But Spike has also learned a lot from being Twilight's sidekick, close friend, and step-brother of sorts. Only now have we truly gotten to see how much he has grown.

Edited December 22, 2016 by Prospekt

[M'gann M'orzz 745]

Actually, unlike most people, I was okay with Newbie Dash! The episodes I didn't like Rainbow was Cart Before the Ponies and 28 Pranks Later; also Starlight has become my second favorite character in the show! I dunno what you mean by "hung up", but I don't hate her, and I'm not obsessed over her either. I just find her relatable and such!

 

But you're right! This season was also really good for Fluttershy as well; and Pinkie!

When it comes to Starlight you have people like

 

 

 

Spike and Fluttershy were the only ones who actually benefited from this season, but that's really about it, otherwise you got the worst season for about half the main cast and a hohum season for Rarity. And that's not even mentioning the glimmering elephant in the room

 

This guy who pretty much decided to hate her from the start and will franky you could get the best written episode of the show, like freaking an episode of the writing quality of I don't know name whatever movie you think was the best written you've seen and they would STILL hate her.

[Megas 27,490]

When it comes to Starlight you have people like

 

 

 

 

This guy who pretty much decided to hate her from the start and will franky you could get the best written episode of the show, like freaking an episode of the writing quality of I don't know name whatever movie you think was the best written you've seen and they would STILL hate her.

I was mostly fine with Starlight up until Every Little Thing She Does

 

Thanks for the hasty assumption though

[Lambdadelta 1,462]

Season 6 didnt only improve Spike, it treated Spike character with Respect, same with Snail.

 This guy who pretty much decided to hate her from the start and will franky you could get the best written episode of the show, like freaking an episode of the writing quality of I don't know name whatever movie you think was the best written you've seen and they would STILL hate her.

Its fine to hate a certain character, as long as they don try shove their opinion down my throat, i'm fine with them. I have to say one thing to prove i am not bias toward Starlight character: she still need to prove her worth as a member of the mane cast.

 

Starlight is definately more potential character than Sunset, but her chemistry between her and the mane cast is worse than Sunset, she should belong to other reformed friends or someone else, not the mane 6, If the writers want her to be in the mane cast, do it properly or stop and let her in more suitable group or just downright write her out if they cant handle the controversy.

 

Starlight is character i am invested the most right now, hope S7 dont let me down.

[Truffles 2,033]

Spike was the best thing about Season 6, claws down.

 

I think I still prefer S4 a little more, however, due to it's overall consistency. S6 was the season of the rushed ending, even though there are a few rushed endings in other seasons as well. ("Inspiration Manifestation" from S4 immediately springs to mind - I'd still like to rewrite that ending for myself, someday.)

 

Also there were very few ensemble episodes this season. One of the things I've noticed while I've been compiling every Spike scene into a 6 (7? 8? 9?) part video(!) is in the early seasons all of Mane 6 and Spike got a chance to shine in almost every episode. In later seasons (and especially six) most of the episodes were entirely focused on just two or three characters at a time.

 

I have to imagine most of that is due to agents swooping in and demanding more money for their clients as the show ages and becomes more established, but it is a shame since the early episodes with all of the characters involved had more interesting interactions with one another.

Edited December 22, 2016 by Truffles

[cmarston1 5,958]

Well despite season 6 being far from the show's best, I was happy to see the show actually treat Spike pretty well for a change.

[Thrond 3,262]

I was mostly fine with Starlight up until Every Little Thing She Does

 

Thanks for the hasty assumption though

I mostly like Starlight, but the problem with "Every Little Thing She Does," aside from it just... not being all that much fun, is that Starlight expresses little remorse until Twilight chews her out. It very much seems like she's just trying to impress Twilight, and while she apologizes and proves herself in the finale, the show never indicates she actually knows why what she did was wrong, and since this isn't at all the first time she's done something so selfish and careless (to put it VERY lightly), I can't pretend the show's decision to just sort of ignore that doesn't bother me.

To be honest I really don't think this was such a bad season for Rarity, Rainbow, or Applejack. AJ has been wavering between interesting-but-unentertaining and fun-but-bland for about three seasons now, I've already mentioned what I think this season has done for Rainbow in addition to making her a Wonderbolt, and I don't see any significant difference between Rarity here and in the previous two seasons. Twilight's still awful this season but it's really not all that different from earlier seasons; S4 is probably still her worst.

[Baykush 328]

Spike has always been a good character to me, but a good supporting character (which doesn't make him any less important), and that's why his best roles had been when he was there helping Twilight in episodes like Lesson Zero, The Crystal Empire, The Cutie Re-Mark, and even the first EqG movie (he is the principal reason I don't dislike that movie). The problem with that kind of character is giving him the leading role, and I believe that's a problem AJ has as well (she's also great in supporting roles, but her episodes tend to be boring, in Spike's case they tend to be very badly written). Having him help other ponies (or creatures, in this case) aside form the mane 6 really worked for him, and I'm happy to see he finally had a good episode since Equestria Games.

 

Now, about the episodes themselves... Spike was great, but their biggest fault in my opinion is, well, almost everything else, which makes me "like" them but not wish to see them again. I didn't like seeing the teenage dragons being jerks again and I didn't find Ember to be such a great character (just good, but I don't really care about her), the same goes for Thorax, or at least it went until the finale. I did like the song a lot though, I loved how Twilight's and Starlight's expressions slowly changed as he was singing.

 

About season 6, I really enjoyed it. It had two great Spike episodes, it had Starlight (whom I found to be a great character), it brought back a beloved old character (Trixie), it was very experimental, it made me love Fluttershy again, it had some hilarious episodes like The Saddle Row Review, and it had episodes like Newbie Dash and Flutter Brutter (I know a lot of people disliked them, but I liked a lot what they did and the morals they had). I'm looking forward to see what season 7 has to offer 

[FlareGun45 2,221]

Spike has always been a good character to me, but a good supporting character (which doesn't make him any less important), and that's why his best roles had been when he was there helping Twilight in episodes like Lesson Zero, The Crystal Empire, The Cutie Re-Mark, and even the first EqG movie (he is the principal reason I don't dislike that movie). The problem with that kind of character is giving him the leading role, and I believe that's a problem AJ has as well (she's also great in supporting roles, but her episodes tend to be boring, in Spike's case they tend to be very badly written). Having him help other ponies (or creatures, in this case) aside form the mane 6 really worked for him, and I'm happy to see he finally had a good episode since Equestria Games.

 

Now, about the episodes themselves... Spike was great, but their biggest fault in my opinion is, well, almost everything else, which makes me "like" them but not wish to see them again. I didn't like seeing the teenage dragons being jerks again and I didn't find Ember to be such a great character (just good, but I don't really care about her), the same goes for Thorax, or at least it went until the finale. I did like the song a lot though, I loved how Twilight's and Starlight's expressions slowly changed as he was singing.

 

About season 6, I really enjoyed it. It had two great Spike episodes, it had Starlight (whom I found to be a great character), it brought back a beloved old character (Trixie), it was very experimental, it made me love Fluttershy again, it had some hilarious episodes like The Saddle Row Review, and it had episodes like Newbie Dash and Flutter Brutter (I know a lot of people disliked them, but I liked a lot what they did and the morals they had). I'm looking forward to see what season 7 has to offer 

 

*Three great Spike episodes! Dungeons and Discords is a Spike episode as well, but he shared it with Discord and Big M!

[FirePuppy 712]

For Season 7, I expect to see Spike having an episode with Fluttershy and another with Twilight, but that's it.

 

Personally, I don't think he needs any with Pinkie or Rainbow (even though Spike did have a "big" role in Feeling Pinkie Keen).

[FlareGun45 2,221]

For Season 7, I expect to see Spike having an episode with Fluttershy and another with Twilight, but that's it.

 

Personally, I don't think he needs any with Pinkie or Rainbow (even though Spike did have a "big" role in Feeling Pinkie Keen).

 

That's it? Naaaah. He's got more than that! Plus he has episodes with Twilight too much; and the episodes he does have with Twilight, they're normally considered Twilight episodes anyway. He's probably gonna have three again like in season 6! Two slice of life episodes, and one dragon episode, I'm thinking. Also hey, maybe he'll have a big part in the finale too, but only if Scorpan becomes the season's arc. If he isn't, then probably not.

Edited December 25, 2016 by MegaSean45